


Aches, Pains, and Clingy Chimeras

by cherrysprite



Series: Quarantine Fics [16]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Domestic Boyfriends, Fluff, Good Boyfriend Liam Dunbar, Headaches & Migraines, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, Light Angst, M/M, Pack Feels, Protective Liam Dunbar, Public Display of Affection, Theo Raeken Loves Liam Dunbar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:08:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24191095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherrysprite/pseuds/cherrysprite
Summary: Liam learned pretty early in their relationship that Theo is by no means into public displays of affection, so when he suddenly gets clingy and cuddly in the middle of a pack meeting, Liam knows something is wrong.
Relationships: Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken
Series: Quarantine Fics [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1691383
Comments: 18
Kudos: 336





	Aches, Pains, and Clingy Chimeras

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the rabbithole of whump/sickfics I've been reading lately, thiam-style

Liam liked to think that he knew his boyfriend pretty well. 

They got together in the way he thought they would: during a tense situation that they really should have waited for to be over before they started confessing their feelings, but it worked. Their relationship started with uncertainty, mostly because neither one of them were sure they would make it out of the situation alive to finally become boyfriends, which obviously they did, but there were still a lot of questions left.

Liam took time to get to know Theo when they first started officially dating. For one, Theo had never been in a relationship before, so he had no idea how he would act in one. It took him a good while to recognize and understand his likes and dislikes. Eventually, he came to find that Theo much preferred being alone with Liam instead of on group dates and hangouts, and he didn’t love going out in public about it. He’d rather stay at home and watch a movie than go to a restaurant for dinner, which Liam was completely fine with. He didn’t like being too close in bed, since Liam slept warm and was a clinger, making it hard for Theo to fall asleep. He did, however, like to wake up with Liam on his chest in the morning, having migrated over to his side of the bed in their sleep, no matter how much he acted like he was annoyed by it. A lot of things with Theo were like that, like when Liam played with his hair or his fingers. He pretended to find it irritating, but he always ended up with a little smile on his lips.

Boundaries were another thing they’d taken the time to figure out. Liam was admittedly self-aware about his tendencies to lay it on heavy with the PDA - he was just shameless about it. He’d always liked having Hayden right by his side when they were dating, wrapped up in each other and often just getting ahead of themselves and making out wherever they were. It really was a wonder that Hayden had kept up with how horny Liam was all the time as a teenager, he thought.

But Liam’s “Public Displays of Affection” habit in his last relationship didn’t mean he couldn’t adapt. One of the biggest things and one of the first things he found out about dating Theo was that he wasn’t into it, like, at all. Liam had tried to kiss him in front of Lydia one time and was pretty bluntly rejected. Theo had flinched away and widened his eyes at him like he was insane for trying it, then apologized once they were alone. Once Liam got over the embarrassment and slight sadness that came over him, he kept it in mind - no more PDA. Theo would let him hold his hand as long as he wasn’t showy about it, put his arm around him when they watched movies, and at most, kiss him on the cheek, which was pushing it even then according to the blush that Theo always got when he did. Theo just wasn’t one for public affection, no matter how he acted once they were back home.

So, yeah, Liam knew his boyfriend pretty well. It kept things running smoothly between them now that Liam knew that Theo wasn’t into public attention, so pack meetings weren’t at all awkward.

As a part of Scott’s attempt to keep the pack together and happy now that they were all branching off and going to college, they had weekly meetings at someone’s house. They were all in Beacon Hills, since that’s where the majority of them were still staying, and the older pack members joined through facetime and video chat. Lydia and Stiles were on one computer monitor sitting on the coffee table of Scott’s living room, Derek was on another, and Kira’s face was on Malia’s phone. The rest of them were gathered in the living room, Liam sitting on the recliner alone while Theo chose to stand nearby. 

They were talking about their weeks, since no important pack business was going on. Things in Beacon Hills were calm for the most part lately, so everyone was idly talking about their own lives one at a time so everyone could hear. Lydia and Stiles talked about their fancy smart-person schools they were each going to, living together in an apartment off both of their campuses, and Kira went next explaining what new things she’d learned with the skinwalkers.

Malia was in the middle of talking about the book she was thinking of writing despite being bad at grammar when Theo came over to Liam. He poked him on the shoulder silently, motioning for him to move over in the chair. Liam looked at him, confused, since there was only supposed to be enough space for one person, but shoved over as far as he could anyway. Theo sat close, their thighs pressing together.

What he did next surprised him even more. He laid his head on Liam’s shoulder like it was something he did all the time, and even went as far as to put his arm through Liam’s. Scott looked at Liam questioningly, but Liam could only shrug one shoulder to not disturb him. 

Theo barely ever acted like this when they were at home alone, so he knew something had to be up if he was being clingy to him now. It was concerning, and Liam glanced down at him. His face was completely hidden in Liam’s shoulder, eyes closed, and he adjusted his arm so he was holding onto Liam’s even more securely. Even his knees were pointed towards Liam, falling into him entirely. He breathed in long and deep, letting it out tiredly, and Liam knew something had to be wrong.

Liam tried to scent him as subtly as he could, only to find that Theo wasn’t trying to hide the waves of discomfort coming off of him. It was then that he noticed that his eyes were shut tight like he was in pain, and Liam gasped quietly. “Hey,” He whispered, making Theo stir. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Theo said, shrugging, but it was too weak. Liam wasn’t convinced, but he decided to give Theo the benefit of the doubt and give him a little more time.

His original plan quickly failed, since Theo wasn’t letting go of him. People were still talking, either ignoring or just plain forgetting about Theo since he was being so quiet. Mason laughed loudly at something Stiles said, and Theo cringed and curled further into Liam’s side. He wanted to reach out and wrap Theo up in his arms, but since he was already clinging to one of them like a pillow, he didn’t. When Theo breathed deeply again and repositioned himself on Liam’s shoulder, he decided Theo had had enough. “You want to go?” He asked softly, rubbing Theo’s hair with his free hand. It made him even more worried that Theo leaned into the touch instead of trying to get away from it. 

This time, Theo nodded. “Yeah,” He said again, even weaker. He blinked his eyes open and got up off the chair slowly but determinedly, obviously relieved to be leaving. Liam was glad he’d said something, since it was clear Theo wasn’t planning on it. Theo rubbed the space between his eyebrows as Liam stood up. 

“Hey, we’re gonna go,” Liam said. Everyone looked at him, rather surprised since it was only about a half hour into a night that usually lasted awhile, but nobody argued. “I’ll catch up with you guys later, sorry.”

Theo gave a small, silent wave to everybody before stepping out of the house, Liam following close behind. Liam watched as Theo took the keys to his truck out of the pocket of his jacket and tossed them to him, immediately heading for the passenger seat. Liam got more anxious by the second, especially when Theo got into the truck and sighed. “Sorry,” He breathed, his hand on his head again.

Liam shook his head again, not caring that they had to leave. “No, it’s fine,” He said, his eyebrows furrowed. “What’s wrong?”

“My head is just killing me,” Theo said with a grimace. Liam cringed sympathetically. “I just need a Tylenol or something, nothing to worry about.”

Liam gave him a sympathetic smile and reached for his hand across the console, gripping the back of it tightly to take some of his pain. As soon as some started to come off, Theo protested and Liam’s head felt like it had just been hit by a brick. “Jesus, that bad?” Liam breathed, moving to rub Theo’s back instead as he leaned heavily against the seat. “I’m sorry, I should have seen this coming. You didn’t feel good this morning either, did you?”

Theo, too tired to lie, just nodded. “It’s my fault, I didn’t take my meds early enough. I thought I had more time,” Theo said. While werewolves didn’t get headaches often, the same didn’t stand for chimeras. Even worse, it had apparently been a Raeken gene thing to get frequent migraines, which Theo had unfortunately inherited. “I just need to sleep it off.” Liam put the truck in drive while they still had time before Theo was in complete agony.

As soon as they got into the apartment, Theo stumbling along as his headache had gotten worse in the car (he’d refused to let Liam take the pain so that he wouldn’t end up crashing them into a tree, no matter how much Liam protested he wouldn’t), Liam guided Theo to their room. “You go lay down,” He said gently, pushing Theo softly in the direction of their bedroom while Liam headed to the kitchen.

He got a packet of Theo’s powdered prescription to mix into water, listening closely to make sure Theo was okay getting into bed. He mixed it as fast as he could, the last of the powder still swirling around in the bottom of the glass when he decided it was enough. He carried it into their room as quickly as he could without spilling it.

He found Theo laying on top of the covers with his shoes still on, the room lit only by their bathroom light. “Here,” He said, handing Theo his meds. He made sure Theo drank all of it before taking the glass back and setting it carefully down on the bedside table. 

Theo looked like he was ready to go to sleep right then to get the recovery over with, but Liam wasn’t letting him just yet. “Come on, at least take your jacket and shoes off,” Liam said. Theo suppressed a soft noise of distress when Liam made him sit up to bring his jacket off of his arms, but he untied his shoes for him so he wouldn’t have to reach for them. He pulled Theo’s socks off as well. Theo made another sound when Liam made him stand up. “Just a second,” He said, pushing the covers to the side so Theo could roll under them. “You don’t want to wake up cold.”

Theo finally laid down comfortably, a tiny sigh of relief leaving him as his head hit the soft pillow. Liam climbed in right after him on his side. Theo would never ask him to stay, but he knew he wanted him to. Theo shuffled into him, his head resting on his chest that time, seeming like a completely different person. Liam was a little ashamed to admit that he liked Theo like this - not in pain, but soft and cuddly. He liked taking care of Theo when he needed it. It made him feel like a good boyfriend, and he knew Theo would do the same for him.

“I love you,” Theo mumbled into his shirt, somewhere in between awake and drifting off, and Liam smiled. 

“I love you too,” He said softly. “Feel better, T.”

The cloud always has a silver lining. Liam woke up the next morning to Theo feeling better, peppering kisses all over his face and down his neck. “Hey,” Liam said sleepily, blinking himself awake. “Feeling better now?”

Theo kissed him on the mouth then, which wasn’t rare, but it was pretty early in the morning for it - especially with such enthusiasm. He pulled back with a smile, looking beautifully messy with his hair on his forehead and his face still blotchy and red from sleep, and Liam wondered how he got so lucky. “Yeah,” He breathed, kissing him again. “And now I’m going to get up and make you breakfast. You stay here,” He said, grinning wider as he leaned down for one more kiss. 

Liam watched him leave their bedroom with a sleepy grin. It was all worth it for Theo.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!!
> 
> God, I would write hurt/comfort every day if I could think of enough scenarios for it. It's just so cute for one of them to be sick or hurting, and I think I have a soft spot now for headachey Theo. He just seems like the kind of guy to want to stick it out through anything...I might do more with that later.
> 
> Comments are always appreciated!! Let me know if you liked my hurt/comfort and if I should do more :)  
> tumblr: grenadinepeach


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